No-pay workdays - Just lucky, or just a bluff?

When Missouri's governor, Bob Holden, announced near the end of this year's legislative session that some 6,000 state employees would have to give up two days of pay in order to balance the budget year that ends this month, there were two immediate reactions.

The first reaction was one of surprise that the governor would go to such extremes to find the dollars needed for state spending through June 30. Asking employees to show up for work without pay is asking a lot, and the threat of such a drastic measure did a lot to underscore Holden's case for a resolution to the state's budget crisis.

The second reaction was one of puzzlement bordering on cynicism. Could the state really ask its employees to work without pay? More importantly, was this a threat the governor was really willing to carry out? Or was it simply a way of getting attention without ever intending to follow through?

There were some Missourians who saw the governor's planned no-pay workdays as the kind of threat some school boards make when they want voters to approve a bond issue: If you don't vote yes, we'll cut football and the marching band. Even when school bond issues fail, those cuts rarely occur.

Adding fuel for skeptics and cynics was last week's announcement that Holden has canceled the no-pay workdays. He said an extra $1.5 million from the federal government for Medicaid reimbursements will offset nearly all of the $1.7 million the pay cuts would have saved. And state agencies exceeded the governor's request for $29 million in additional savings and increased funding from Washington.

Some legislative leaders wonder if the sudden turn of good fortune might not also mean restoration of slashed funding in other programs. But given the uncertainties of future state revenue, it would seem prudent to hang on to any extra dollars for awhile to make sure they won't be needed in the months ahead to shore up the state's spending needs.

When it comes to leadership by example, the governor said he and his staff would be subject to the same no-pay plan as other state employees. Several legislative leaders also said they would give up two days of pay if state workers had to.

Meanwhile, a lot of attention has been focused in Cape Girardeau on the budget struggles of both the city and Southeast Missouri State University. While pay cuts -- temporary or permanent -- of the top brass at the city or university wouldn't solve the money crunch, they would certainly send a signal to city and university employees that the pinch is being felt even at the very top.

The wrong step, however, would be to threaten pay cuts without intending to make good on the threat, even if a satisfactory budget remedy isn't achieved. Such a step undercuts a leader's credibility.